The Sister Who Pushed Me, The Fate That Swallowed Her Chapter 09

The Sister Who Pushed Me, The Fate That Swallowed Her Chapter 09

He tracked down rare healing salves for me and spent a full week helping me get used to being touched.

Only after that did we finally become mates.

His intensity still overwhelmed me. But he paid attention to every reaction I had. Every single one.

Two days later, Gideon smelled it on me. I was pregnant.

He lost his mind with happiness.

The Federation president threw a dinner in my honor the second he heard. Gifts flooded in from everywhere.

They didn’t stop.

That’s when I found out just how hard it was for interstellar women to conceive. The males‘ genetics were

too powerful for most bodies to handle.

Most women took ten to twenty years to get pregnant even once.

I’d done it in three days.

After that, interstellar society’s obsession with New Terran, women went through the roof.

Enoch started showing up at our door every single day with fresh food, practically begging Gideon to kill

him.

But the fruits and vegetables Enoch brought were exactly what I’d been craving, and his connections kept

them coming. So Gideon let him live.

A month later, I gave birth to a daughter.

A girl. It topped every interstellar newsfeed.

That was when the whole galaxy figured it out.

Among interstellar species, five hundred years could pass without a single daughter being born. With New

Terran mothers, those odds jumped to fifty–fifty.

After that, no human woman could set foot outside without being mobbed.

Even hiding indoors didn’t help. Gifts kept flying over the fence.

All for the slim chance of being noticed.

The women blamed me in the holo–chat daily.

The peace didn’t last.

I didn’t know how Sloane gof tuy frequency, but she called.

When her face appeared on the screen, I nearly dropped it. Her eye sockets were empty. Blood covered what remained.

“You knew what he was, Audra. You knew, and you didn’t tell me.”

“He killed the baby, and now he wants another one. He won’t even let me heal!”

Her screams tore through the speaker. I covered my daughter’s ears.

Once the service bot carried her out of earshot, I let myself laugh.

“Are you serious right now? You didn’t exactly let me finish a sentence back then, Sloane.”

“You killed me for your dream of one perfect, devoted man. Well, Derek is exactly that. You two were made

for each other.”

Sloane started pacing. Frantic. Unhinged.

Then she lurched toward the camera, her ruined face filling the screen.

“I’m your sister! You owe me! Your mate’s a general. He can get me out of here. You know he can!”

“Save you? Again? The last time I saved your life, you thanked me with a knife at my wedding. Tell me why I’d be stupid enough to do it twice.

I wasn’t an idiot. What made her think I’d keep saving the person who killed me?

Sloane crumpled. Her legs gave out and she hit the floor.

The camera shifted with her.

She pressed her hands over her hollow sockets and broke apart.

Blood and tears seeped between her fingers.

“Audra, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, okay? Please. Just get me out. I’ll be different this time, I swear.”

“You don’t understand what he’s like. I looked at his second–in–command a few times. That’s all. And he

gouged out my eyes and killed the man.”

Her whole body shook as she said it.

“That’s on you, Sloane. You wanted exclusive devotion, remember? So why were you looking at another man?” I let that sit. “He never did that to me, by the way. Not once. He must love you more. That’s why even

a glance was too much for him to take.”

My dear Sloane only ever told the version that made her the victim.

Derek was insane. That much was true. But he wouldn’t gouge out his wife’s eyes over a couple of glances.

The man had built the largest pirate fleet in the sector and conquered an entire planet. He didn’t get there by being stupid.

He wouldn’t kill his own second–in–command over nothing.

“What betrayal? Interstellar law says Tean take more guardian–mates! He had no right to do this to me!”

“So you got your exclusive love, and then decided you wanted options on the side?”